I Will Survive

Song Meaning of I will Survive by Gloria Gaynor, and what it is about

By the mid-Seventies, Gaynor’s career was falling apart. Donna Summer had replaced her as the leading disco diva, and 32-year-old Gaynor had suffered the death of her mother and had recently undergone spinal surgery after tripping onstage and triggering temporary paralysis.

So when she belted out “I Will Survive,” she brought extra attitude. The track was originally a B side, but after enterprising DJs started to play it at discos, it turned into a smash.

“I never tire of ‘I Will Survive,’” Gaynor told Rolling Stone in 2016. “I love doing it for the audience.”

"I Will Survive" is a song by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 as the second single from her sixth album, Love Tracks in  1978. It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. A top-selling song, it is a popular disco anthem.

The song's lyrics describe the narrator's discovery of personal strength following an initially devastating breakup.

According to Dino Fekaris, the principal writer of the song, "I Will Survive" has its genesis in his experience getting fired by Motown Records in the mid-1970s after seven years working there as a staff writer.

Now unemployed, Fekaris turned on the TV in his room, and a theme song he had written for the film Generation, performed by Rare Earth, happened to be playing.

He took it as a good omen, and jumped up and down on the bed saying, "I'm going to make it. I'm going to be a songwriter. I will survive!".

Fekaris teamed up with his collaborator Freddie Perren, another former member of the Motown production team, to write the song; however, the song remained unrecorded for two years as no suitable singer was available.

In 1978, Perren was asked by Polydor to produce "Substitute" for Gloria Gaynor, which he agreed on the understanding that he could also produce the B-side.

When Gaynor was asked what kind of songs she liked, she said she liked "songs that are meaningful, have good lyrics, and touch people's hearts."

The producers then handed her the song lyrics of "I Will Survive" scribbled on a piece of brown paper, Gaynor recognized the song as a hit immediately.

According to Robert "Boogie" Bowles who played guitar on the song, in the three-hour recording session, the session musicians spent most of their time recording the A side, "Substitute".

As a result, they only had 35 minutes to record the B-side "I Will Survive".

They also did not even know the song title or the melody of the song, but they were fairly relaxed recording it in the belief that the B-side would likely not be played.

Based only on the chord changes and a few notes, they improvised freely much of the backing track, and Bowles filled in the bare bone of the tune with jazzy blues licks.

Due to the difference in the intro from the main body of the tune which made a smooth transition difficult, it was recorded in two parts and then spliced together.

Gaynor then recorded the vocals wearing a back brace, having just had a surgery due to a fall at a concert. The injury and a recent bereavement made Gaynor identify with the sentiment of "I Will Survive": "That's why I was able to sing the song with so much conviction".

It received heavy airplay in 1979, spending three non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as topping the UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart. The song is also frequently recalled as a symbol of female empowerment. In 2016, the Library of Congress deemed Gaynor's original recording to be "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

Lyrics of I will Survive by Gloria Gaynor

At first, I was afraid, I was petrified

Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side

But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong

And I grew strong, and I learned how to get along

And so you're back from outer space

I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face

I should have changed that stupid lock

I should have made you leave your key

If I'd have known for just one second you'd be back to bother me

Go on now, go. Walk out the door

Just turn around now 'cause you're not welcome anymore

Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye?

Did you think I'd crumble?

Did you think I'd lay down and die?

Oh, no, not I

I will survive

Oh, as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive

I've got all my life to live

I've got all my love to give

And I'll survive

I will survive, hey, hey

It took all the strength I had not to fall apart

Kept trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart

And I spent, oh, so many nights just feeling sorry for myself

I used to cry, but now I hold my head up high

And you see me somebody new

I'm not that chained-up little person still in love with you

And so you felt like dropping in

And just expect me to be free

And now I'm saving all my loving for someone who's loving me

Go on now, go. Walk out the door

Just turn around now 'cause you're not welcome anymore

Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbye?

Did you think I'd crumble?

Did you think I'd lay down and die?

Oh, no, not I

I will survive

Oh, as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive

I've got all my life to live

I've got all my love to give

And I'll survive

I will survive

Go on now, go. Walk out the door

Just turn around now 'cause you're not welcome anymore

Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbye?

Did you think I'd crumble?

Did you think I'd lay down and die?

Oh, no, not I

I will survive

Oh, as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive

I've got all my life to live

I've got all my love to give

And I'll survive

I will survive

I will survive